The present invention relates to manufacturing tortillas. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tortilla apparatus which cools and drys the newly manufactured moist hot tortillas.
Numerous innovations for tortilla cooling systems have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention as hereinafter contrasted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,261, Titled, xe2x80x9cCooling Tunnel for Food Products,xe2x80x9d invented by Cope, discloses a cooling tunnel for baked tortillas and the like, the tunnel having a housing defining a cooling space, an aperatured product conveyor for moving the product to be cooled through the cooling space, means for moving cooling gas over the tortillas in the cooling space, closed loop flexible hold down chains, supports for positioning the hold down chains in the cooling space for resting on the conveyor, and a drive for moving the hold down chains through the cooling space along with the conveyor with the tortillas between the hold down chains and the conveyor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,548, Titled, xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Continuous Producing of Tortilla Chips,xe2x80x9d invented by Cope, et. al., discloses a method and apparatus for continuous production of tortilla chips, including mixing tortilla flour and water to form a dough, rolling the dough into a continuous sheet, cutting tortilla shapes from the sheet, moving the tortilla shapes continuously through a baking oven to produce baked products, moving the baked products continuously along an equilibration conveyor to substantially equalize the moisture content of each baked product throughout the product to form an equilibrated product, moving the equilibrated product continuously through a refrigeration unit to cool the product to form a cooled product, cutting the cooled products into chip shapes, and moving the chip shapes to a fryer to produce the tortilla chips. The frying step may be continuous or batch as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,272, Titled, xe2x80x9cSystem for Preparing Tortillas,xe2x80x9d invented by Mendoza, discloses a system for preparing tortillas including a tortilla cooking oven and a cooked tortilla cooling device associated with the oven. The cooking oven has an entrance at which uncooked tortillas are received and an exit from which cooked tortillas are discharged. The oven also include a plurality of superposed transporting members which define a cooking path along which each tortilla travels through the oven and in which each of the opposite sides of the tortilla at separate portions of the path are subjected to cooking at the same temperature and over the same amount of time. The cooling device associated the oven is adapted to receive cooked tortillas from the exit of the oven and to form a cushion of pressurized air whereby the tortillas can be moved on the air cushion along a predetermined cooling path, for example by operator assist, such that the cooked tortillas are cooled by the time they reach the end of the cooling path.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,788, Titled, xe2x80x9cContinuous High-speed Cooking and Cooling Method Using Pre-heated Ingredients and Predetermined Radiant Heating Patterns for the Production of Tortillas and Similar Products,xe2x80x9d invented by Longenecker, discloses a method and system for continuous high-speed commercial cooking and cooling using pre-heated dough ingredients for making products such as tortillas, provides predetermined specific heating patterns in an infrared cooking sequence which assures consistent product characteristics. Dough blanks formed of pre-heated ingredients are conveyed past predetermined sequences of infrared burners within an oven along a series of paths to sequentially expose alternate sides of the pre-heated ingredients to intensive radiant heating patterns each of decreasing heat intensity and of predetermined short time duration. Conveyors within the oven are synchronized to maintain blank spacing similar throughout the cooking process and turnaround chute means reverse and transfer blanks from one conveyor to another for alternatively exposing opposite sides of the articles to the radiant heaters. Burner cooling and fume exhaust is obtained by introducing air near the center of the oven and discharging it at the oven ends. Ignition of gas burners and flame sensing is accomplished through full burning pilot tube means extending the length of each bank of radiant heating burners. A subsequent high velocity and lengthy travel of the cooked tortillas while they are being individually exposed to ambient air serves to cool the tortillas and to permit escape of any residual internal free moisture, thereby avoiding the subsequent release of moisture or softening of the cooked and attractively browned surface skin layers for enabling stacking without sticking together.
Numerous innovations for tortilla cooling systems have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
The present invention relates to a tortilla apparatus which cools and drys the newly manufactured moist hot tortillas, preventing them from sticking, utilizing a unique upper and lower perforated baffling system in combination with top, bottom and right chambers.
The types of problems encountered in the prior art are the length of time required to cool tortillas in ambient air and that tortillas stick together after manufacturing.
In the prior art, unsuccessful attempts to solve this problem typically used flour and other desiccating agents. However, the problem was solved by the present invention because it employs a distributed diffusion respiration/refrigeration system to desiccate the tortillas after manufacture.
Innovations within the prior art are rapidly being exploited in the field of food manufacture.
The present invention went contrary to the teaching of the art which describes and claims numerous other desiccating methods other than respiration.
The present invention solved a long felt need for a simple effective tortilla desiccating system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tortilla cooling conveyor with distributed air diffusion having a housing having a top chamber and a bottom chamber and a right chamber, coils/fan connected to a refrigeration compressor, top baffle plate with top baffle plate openings, bottom baffle plate with bottom baffle plate openings, conveyors, and curved guides.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide the housing having a housing top, housing bottom, housing front with a housing front ingress, housing back with a housing back egress, housing left, housing right, housing right inner, housing right inner top opening, and housing right inner bottom opening.
In keeping with these objects, and with others which will become apparent hereinafter, one feature of the present invention resides, briefly stated, in the conveyors having a first conveyor, second conveyor, third conveyor, fourth conveyor, fifth conveyor, sixth conveyor, and seventh conveyor.
When the curved guide is designed in accordance with the present invention, it comprises a first right curved guide, first left curved guide, second right curved guide, second left curved guide, third right curved guide, and third left curved guide.
The novel features which are considered characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawings.
10xe2x80x94tortilla cooling conveyor with distributed air diffusion (10)
12xe2x80x94housing (12)
12Txe2x80x94housing top (12T)
12Axe2x80x94housing bottom (12A)
12Fxe2x80x94housing front (12F)
12FAxe2x80x94housing front ingress (12FA)
12Bxe2x80x94housing back (12B)
12BAxe2x80x94housing back egress (12BA)
12Lxe2x80x94housing left (12L)
12Rxe2x80x94housing right (12R)
12RIxe2x80x94housing right inner (12RI)
12RITxe2x80x94housing right inner top opening (12RIT)
12RIBxe2x80x94housing right inner bottom opening (not shown)
14xe2x80x94conveyor air flow (14)
16xe2x80x94coils/fan (16)
18Txe2x80x94top baffle plate (18T)
18TAxe2x80x94top baffle plate opening (18TA)
18Bxe2x80x94bottom baffle plate (18B)
18BAxe2x80x94bottom baffle plate opening (not shown)
20Axe2x80x94first conveyor (20A)
20Bxe2x80x94second conveyor (20B)
20Cxe2x80x94third conveyor (20C)
20Dxe2x80x94fourth conveyor (20D)
20Fxe2x80x94fifth conveyor (20F)
20Gxe2x80x94sixth conveyor (20G)
20Hxe2x80x94seventh conveyor (20H)
22ARxe2x80x94first right curved guide (22AR)
22ALxe2x80x94first left curved guide (not shown)
22BRxe2x80x94second right curved guide (22BR)
22BLxe2x80x94second left curved guide (not shown)
22CRxe2x80x94third right curved guide (not shown)
22CLxe2x80x94third left curved guide (not shown)
24xe2x80x94refrigeration compressor (24)
26Axe2x80x94egress air (26A)
26Bxe2x80x94ingress air (26B)
28xe2x80x94ingress tortilla (28)
30xe2x80x94egress tortilla (30)
34Txe2x80x94top chamber (34T)
34Bxe2x80x94bottom chamber (34B)
34Sxe2x80x94side chamber (34S)